Album of the Week - Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Good Light

This weeks album of the week is Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Good Light and here is what newstown.com had to say about it....

For Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, their fourth studio album, "Good Light, represents their highly underrated understanding of emotion rather than their growth as a group over the past year.

If these guys are strangers to you, consider jumping right in and hitting play to get acclimated to their full-hearted sound. It's just that easy.

Needing little introduction, Holcomb’s voice is very full and heartwarmingly tender, but equal amounts of time are spent listening to his Tennessean accent click into action. “Another Man’s Shoes” best illustrates his innate ability as he draws, “If you ain’t learn that by now/Go ahead, walk another mile.” With the help of his wife, Ellie, this track is destined for a coffeehouse playlist. Feel free to add it to yours.

Holcomb’s wife, who shares vocal responsibilities, has a certain warming quality herself. Now and again, her voice is faintly heard but as a buttery echo to her husband’s ever-softening tone.

“Good Light” is clearly the album’s most captivating effort. “Hey there’s a good light/Shining through/And I need it tonight,” Holcomb sings on Good Light’s second glimpse of the bands personality. Feelings of compassion and wonder arise, as Holcomb, now, more than ever, illuminates some very uplifting themes of open-mindedness and cheerfulness in times of despair.

Further down, “Wine We Drink” is about as vulnerable as Drew Holcomb gets. Forgetting the words to songs and laughing at the wrong time are touched upon in this fragile track that lightly crumbles with its tenderness. Holcomb has never seemed more human, though. If you're in the mood, this one is an effortless listen.

This year is definitely going to be Holcomb’s, as "Good Light" is destined to grab the attention it deserves. Is it in my album of the year conversation? Probably not. It could creep into my top 10 if it avoids the dreaded pit radio created for folk-rock artists. And don’t act like I’m the only music critic in the country to ever throw those words on a page. I don’t have the numbers to back this up, but plenty of folk-rock bands have lost more than just their appeal after taking the plunge into the icy radio controlled waters. I’m glancing slyly out of the corner of my eye at you, Lumineers…

This album is now available on iTunes, so pick up a copy today.

4/5 stars

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RTÉ Radio 1 Music Policy

With more than 40 hours of music on RTE Radio 1 every single week, we want to ensure the best music for our listeners is played. Every fortnight we have a new playlist of the best of the new releases from Irish and international acts. And there's always an album of the week. The tracks are rotated over the main daytime programmes and are updated every week.

Tracks from the Radio 1 Album of the Week can be heard over the week on Rising Time, The Ronan Collins Show and Late Date. (Tracks marked ** are new additions). We hope you enjoy the music...

RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster.RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Images courtesy of Inpho.ie and Getty Images.